Wes Bentley’s Beard is a Surprise ‘Hunger Games’ Star

Bentley, who may be best known for his role as rebel videographer Ricky Fitts in 1999's "American Beauty," stars as Seneca Crane, the head game-maker. In the film, Bentley sports a topsy-turvy beard that features wild angles and a wave design. It's very bizarre and very buzzy.

When Bentley walked the red carpet at the Yahoo! premiere event for the film, he explained that the beard is 100% real. No CGI here. "That beard needs a special designer, I can't do it myself. . . . I thought about doing a handlebar mustache. Or something. But nothing's going to beat that look."

Indeed. The film hasn't even hit theaters but the beard already has its own Facebook page with about 5,000 fans as of press time. Somebody get it a reality show.

Bentley told People magazine that getting his beard just right took makeup artist Ve Neill three hours every day. While filming in North Carolina, Bentley would occasionally run to Target to buy baby formula for his child. Apparently he got some "crazy looks" there. But nobody batted an eyelash when he went to Wal-Mart. "I don't know what they assumed," Bentley said.

This marks another notch in Bentley's comeback from Hollywood It Boy to Cautionary Tale. After taking Hollywood by storm with "American Beauty," the actor starred in several forgettable films and then fell into a downward spiral fueled by drugs and alcohol. Things are now looking up. In addition to "The Hunger Games," Bentley will also star in "Lovelace," opposite Amanda Seyfried and James Franco.